This panel at the 17th IBA/ABA US and Latin America Tax Practice Trends Conference in Miami, in June 2025, explored the legal structures governing trusts in each speaker’s country, practical issues arising in their use and emerging trends and challenges. The discussion aimed to provide a comparative overview of how trusts operate globally, focusing on both similarities and jurisdiction-specific complexities in their legal and practical applications.
Released on Dec 18, 2025
This panel at the 17th IBA/ABA US and Latin America Tax Practice Trends Conference in Miami, in June 2025, explored the complexities and distinctions of foreign tax credit regimes across various Latin American jurisdictions and their interaction with United States tax rules.
Released on Dec 18, 2025
This panel discussion at the 17th Annual US and Latin America Tax Practice Trends Conference in June 2025 looked at the tax aspects of reorganisations and migration opportunities in the US and Latin America. The panellists addressed key tax considerations and practical aspects of restructurings and migrations within their respective jurisdictions.
Released on Dec 18, 2025
This session at the 17th IBA/ABA US and Latin America Tax Practice Trends Conference in Miami, in June 2025, examined how Latin American jurisdictions are redesigning their tax and regulatory architecture to capture value from digital payment flows, particularly in cross-border contexts.
Released on Dec 18, 2025
This article reflects on the evolving leadership needs of law firms and challenges the assumption that only lawyers should lead them. Drawing from other professional sectors, it advocates for empowering non-lawyer professionals to help manage legal businesses, without undermining legal expertise or breaching regulatory frameworks.
Released on Dec 16, 2025
With the legal market rapidly evolving, business development (BD) within Indian law firms is moving into a new era, in which client insights and market intelligence are no longer just data points, but catalysts for decisive action. By fusing strategy with flawless execution, BD teams are reshaping how firms deliver services, driving sustainable value across complex, cross-border matters and setting new benchmarks for client partnership.
Released on Dec 15, 2025
In October, members of the Forum’s Northern Region convened in the heart of Vilnius, Lithuania, for a regional retreat that blended rich professional content with the warmth of reconnecting in person. Set against the backdrop of Vilnius’ vibrant Old Town and hosted with immense care by Lithuanian colleagues – Ruta Karpiciute from ELLEX Valiunas and Dziuginta Balciune from WIDEN – the retreat offered participants both inspiration and space to reflect on shared goals for the year ahead.
Released on Dec 11, 2025
Roberto Cima's report of the IBA Annual Conference 2025 gives an insightful look into the event from his perspective as an European Regional Forum scholar. Looking to engage with the legal profession at a global level, Cima attended a variety of talks and networked with professionals from around the world, allowing him to connect his experience as an international student to his role as a lawyer today.
Released on Dec 11, 2025
At the IBA Annual Conference in Toronto, experts in AI policy, synthetic media and digital forensics examined a straightforward but uncomfortable question: ‘Deepfakes – can the AI Act protect Europe?’ The short answer is: not yet, and not on its own.
Released on Dec 11, 2025
A thought-provoking session titled ‘Rebuilding Ukraine – opportunities for lawyers and their clients’ took place at the recent IBA Annual Conference in Toronto. Lasting over an hour, the session explored how the international legal community can play a pivotal role in shaping Ukraine’s legal system and supporting its sustainable post-war recovery.
Released on Dec 11, 2025
An engaging and dynamic panel took place at this year’s Annual Conference, titled ‘How to score in football’s World Cup host countries’. The session was organised jointly by all six IBA regional fora: African, Arab, Asia Pacific, European, Latin American and North American. This produced a rare and enriching collaboration among the Association’s global divisions.
Released on Dec 11, 2025
AI-native law firms represent fundamental restructuring enabled by multiple factors, with specific examples and the key finding (massive cost reductions) culminating in the existential challenge to traditional models.
Released on Dec 11, 2025
Over the past few years, residential asset prices in Spain have experienced a sustained upward trajectory, reaching historically unprecedented levels. This inflationary trend is primarily driven by a structural imbalance between a severely constrained housing supply and a steadily growing demand.
Released on Dec 8, 2025
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the global pharmaceutical industry through its expanding role in drug discovery. From identifying novel compounds to enhancing clinical trial processes, its influence is increasingly evident in Southeast Asian countries, where the intellectual property (IP) regime faces new challenges posed by AI-generated pharmaceutical inventions. For legal practitioners, providing sound counsel in this evolving field requires a deep understanding of the IP framework and the uncertainties that surround it in Southeast Asia.
Released on Dec 8, 2025
In September 2024 the AI & Tech Subcommittee of the IBA Law Firm Management Committee published its first ‘10 things law firms should be doing about AI now’. With the development of AI within the legal industry moving quickly, we have updated the memo. The objective remains the same: provide an overview of developments and practical steps for law firm leaders with a view to AI.
Released on Dec 5, 2025
Artificial intelligence (AI) is developing rapidly in China, with the number of patents and the size of the market both ranking highly among countries. However, this rapid development has posed new challenges to the legal framework, ethical norms and social governance, prompting China to continuously adjust and improve the relevant regulatory system.
Released on Dec 4, 2025
This article analyses the legal framework on the provision of home respiratory care in Portugal. It addresses the evolution of the applicable legal framework, the benefits of competition among providers and national coverage, with references to the contracting model for these services and its advantages.
Released on Dec 4, 2025
Brazil’s digital health offering is rapidly evolving. The Brazilian National Digital Health Strategy 2020–2028 (Estratégia de Saúde Digital or ESD) and the National Health Data Network (Rede Nacional de Dados em Saúde or RNDS) lay down the foundations for interoperability, while the Brazilian Artificial Intelligence (AI) Plan 2024–2028 (Plano Brasileiro de Inteligência Artificial or PBIA) steers the health-focused AI initiatives. Despite having no AI-specific statute and the ongoing debate over Bill No. 2,338/2023, the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária or ANVISA) regulates AI-enabled software as a medical device (SaMD) according to the applicable risk-based rules, including Resolutions 657/2022, 751/2022 and 830/2023. Privacy governance, led by the National Data Protection Authority (Agência Nacional de Proteção de Dados or ANPD) pursuant to the General Personal Data Protection Law (Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados Pessoais or LGPD), shapes dataset access and model transparency. This article maps the relevant obligations, interoperability challenges and priorities for the creation of a safety- and innovation-balanced regulatory framework in Brazil.
Released on Dec 4, 2025
The pharmaceutical industry is entering a defining era of transformation. As the complexity of therapeutics increases, from antibody–drug conjugates to trispecific T-cell engagers, so does the need for sophisticated dealmaking strategies. At the same time, factors such as geopolitical uncertainty, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven innovation and the impending patent cliff are pushing life sciences companies to rethink where and how they invest. This article explores five key considerations that are shaping success in cross-border life sciences M&A, with examples from recent transactions that illustrate these shifting trends.
Released on Dec 4, 2025
In the life sciences and healthcare industries, compliance is critical to safeguarding public health and corporate integrity. As global enforcement intensifies, Brazil has taken steps to strengthen its whistleblower protection framework, notably through the enactment of Decree No. 10,153/2019. This Decree aims to encourage the reporting of misconduct within the federal public administration, including healthcare-related fraud, by protecting the identity of whistleblowers.
Released on Dec 4, 2025
This article analyses the due diligence challenges encountered during merger and acquisition transactions within Brazil’s health insurance industry, characterised by increasing consolidation and strict regulation by the National Regulatory Agency for Private Health Insurance and Plans (Agência Nacional de Saúde Suplementar or ANS) and the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica or CADE). It considers the legal, prudential, actuarial and antitrust dimensions of due diligence, highlighting its role as an instrument of governance, risk mitigation and solvency preservation. Based on recent cases and market practices, it is essential to conduct a thorough review of all the relevant aspects of a potential transaction to ensure that financial sustainability, transparency and regulatory value is achieved in M&A transactions.
Released on Dec 4, 2025
Simplified healthcare plans represent a strategic business opportunity within Brazil’s private healthcare market. By offering essential outpatient coverage at lower premiums, these plans appeal to an underserved segment of patients who fall between the Brazilian public healthcare system and traditional private healthcare plans. International models show that simplified designs can expand the consumer base, stabilise claims ratios and stimulate innovation in product structure and cost management. In Brazil, the model’s potential lies in balancing affordability with profitability through modular offerings and the integration of digital technology.
Released on Dec 4, 2025
Merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions in France’s healthcare and life sciences sectors, such as acquiring medical device manufacturers or stakes in clinical groups (La société d'exercice libéral à responsabilité limitée or SELARLs), draw investor interest, but require intense legal and regulatory scrutiny, amid overlapping national and European frameworks. A multidimensional approach to due diligence integrates these three pillars in order to guarantee secure, value-sustaining deals are reached.
Released on Dec 4, 2025
This article examines the legal status of digital therapeutics and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven health applications within the Argentine regulatory framework, focusing on their potential classification as a medical device or software as a medical device (SaMD) from a local law perspective, the data protection obligations that the processing of health-related information triggers and the intellectual property considerations applicable to software and AI-based health technologies.
Released on Dec 4, 2025
This article analyses xenotransplantation from a global perspective, highlighting the relevant technological drivers, ethical debates, regulatory frameworks and clinical milestones. Additionally, this article uses Mexico’s legal framework as a practical case study, showing how existing health laws can inadvertently create barriers to interspecies organ transplantation (animal to human), even though the laws themselves do not explicitly prohibit it.
Released on Dec 4, 2025
Peru’s regulatory landscape for cannabis and hemp is evolving rapidly. The country has made considerable progress in the development of marketing authorisation categories and compounding, facilitating access to medicinal cannabis. The recent enactment of Law No. 32195 introduces a legal framework for industrial hemp, paving the way for its use in cosmetics and food. This article explores the positive regulatory developments and the anticipated impact of the upcoming regulation, highlighting Peru’s alignment with international standards and its potential for industrial innovation.
Released on Dec 4, 2025
This article analyses the regulatory challenges faced in regard to the treatment of rare and orphan diseases in Peru, highlighting recent legal advances, such as the enactment of Law No. 29698, its regulatory framework and Law No. 32319. Key issues involving the new accelerated procedure for the sanitary registration of products for the treatment of rare diseases are examined, as well as challenges related to financing, research and data management. The implementation of certain mechanisms, such as the reliance model adopted by the General Directorate of Medicines, Supplies and Drugs (La Dirección General de Medicamentos, Insumos y drogas or DIGEMID), is emphasised as a strategic step towards improving patient access to high-cost treatments and strengthening regulatory efficiency.
Released on Dec 4, 2025
Sustainability laws affect businesses across the life sciences sector, from medical devices, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics to food and chemicals. In this article, we outline five key areas of regulation affecting the industry and provide some practical tips for companies to adopt as they prepare for compliance.
Released on Dec 4, 2025
The use of cannabis for medicinal purposes in Paraguay is regulated by a specific legal framework that seeks to ensure both the promotion of scientific research and access to treatment for patients in need. Law No. 6007/2017 establishes the national programme for medical and scientific study and research on the medicinal use of the cannabis plant and its derivatives (Que crea El Programa Nacional para el Estudio y la Investigación Médica y Científica del uso Medicinal de la Planta de CANNABIS y sus Derivados or PROINCUMEC), which is subject to administration by the National Health Surveillance Directorate (Dirección Nacional de Vigilancia Sanitaria or DINAVISA) and the supervision of the National Anti-Drug Secretariat (Secretaría Nacional Antidrogas or SENAD).
Released on Dec 4, 2025
Digital accessibility in favour of disabled persons remains a major challenge despite 20 years of legislative efforts. In France, the 2005 Disability Act imposes obligations on the public and assimilated sector as well as certain large private companies, while Directive (EU) 2019/882, applicable since 28 June 2025 and now transposed into French law, establishes a separate regime for private actors, targeting in particular e-commerce, payment terminals and transport services. This article sheds light on the relationship between the two sets of regulation and asks: is the EAA an additional constraint or is this combination of rules a strategic lever?
Released on Dec 4, 2025